Untitled
by ninz
Summary: Martin is not happy. His relationship with Sam isn't what he had expected, and then Danny is behaving strange and Martin wonders why. Set before 3x17 'Lone Star' MS, DOC, MD friendship. Please R
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Untitled

**Summery:** Martin is not amused; his relationship with Sam seems to be going no where, and then Danny starts to behave strange and Martin wants to know why. Set before 3x17 _'Lone Star'_ MS, DOC, MD friendship

**Disclaimer:** Characters aren't mine :-(

**Author's Notes: **Writing comes easily lately. A little too easily, because I've got exams soon and I should be studying. But writing ff is just so much more fun... ;-) However, I decided to give a taste on what my next story is going to be about _before_ I finished _'Another Cold Case'_; please let me know what you think!

I had to write something about the relationship between the boys during the 3rd season. I loved it, what a pity it all got destroyed by the shooting!

………………

It was a beautiful day.

Well, for anybody else it might have been a beautiful day. Martin, though, was irritated and the fact that the sun shining brightly, the sky was a beautiful blue and the area they were driving through was god damned beautiful, it all seemed to mock him.

The fact that Danny, who was driving their car – _way too fast, by the way_ – was in a good mood, and had been either babbling or humming that stupid song he liked ever since they had got into the damn car was not helping either.

Martin hadn't said a word since they had left the office. He was sitting in the passenger seat, chewing on his bottom lip and staring outside, trying to ignore Danny. They were on their way to question the brother of their latest missing person; an assignment Martin hated because from all they had found out so far, the _MP_ – Martin had taken to call them _MP_s in his thoughts – hadn't been in contact with his brother for years.

Still, there was a chance the man might know something, and that was why Martin was here. In the car. With Danny.

_Oh God, please, make him be quiet before I kill him!_

They reached the address where the man was working. Martin knitted his brows; this was obviously a private home and the man they were looking for was a cook. Martin had expected a restaurant.

A restaurant would have been better, at least he might have been able to buy something to eat there! It was four pm, and he hadn't eaten since breakfast!

"Here it is", Danny commented, unnecessarily, and got out of the car to start walking up the path towards the entrance.

"Thanks. I hadn't noticed", Martin growled. He regretted it a moment later when Danny stopped and looked at him.

"Hey, what's with you?"

"Nothing." He wasn't going to discuss his relationship problems with Danny Taylor. Hell, he wasn't going to discuss them with anyone!

But certainly not with Danny.

Considering that Danny wasn't even supposed to know about it.

Even though he did.

He was Danny, after all.

"You've been moody all day…"

"So?"

Raising his hands in defence Danny pulled a face and said: "Okay, sorry man, didn't know it was _that_ bad."

Martin just shrugged, feeling slightly guilty; it wasn't Danny's fault. That he and Sam had argued that morning.

God, he hated it! The mornings always started so well; waking up with her, they would have breakfast, or – and those mornings were even better – they would make love, then he would drop her off at her place on his way to work so she could get into some fresh clothes, discussing _it_ on the way. Again and again.

"_We can't tell people about us, Martin, and you know it!"_

"_Yeah, you kinda mentioned it before…"_

"_Look…", she paused, staring at him with that serious expression he hated, "you know that it isn't possible. We're colleagues, we work on the same team. Jack wouldn't approve of it…"_

"_Yeah, I bet!"_

"… _and neither would your parents and…"_

"_Okay, forget it." He hit the breaks hard enough to make her 'nod' and looked in the other direction while he said: "We're here, anyway. See you at the office."_

It still made him angry. They weren't in high-school anymore, so why the hell did they have to hide that they were having a relationship?

"I've rung the bell", Danny's voice pulled him back to the present.

"Huh?"

"I've just rung the bell, so you might want to start concentrating", Danny informed him in sweet voice that made Martin almost lose his temper. Luckily the door was opened that same moment, saving him from saying or doing something they might both have regretted

"Yes?"

A woman had opened the door. Martin ran her eyes over her, curiously. She was around forty, a little smaller than him, with a thin, wiry build. She had dark blonde hair and a thin, but good-looking face.

There was a moment of silence that was strangely uncomfortable although Martin couldn't have said why; finally he pulled out his badge and held it under the woman's nose.

"Special Agents Fitzgerald and Taylor, we're with the FBI and we would like to speak to…" he paused when he noticed that she wasn't listening to what he said; instead her eyes were fixed on Danny.

Martin turned his head to look at his co-worker and saw that he was staring back.

"Danny", the woman finally said, her face a shade paler than it had been before.

Danny had obviously recovered from his shock. He answered in a dry tone. "Claudia."

There was another long moment of silence and this time it was _really_ uncomfortable. It took him a few moments to overcome his surprise but finally Martin found himself able to inform the woman – _Claudia_, as he had just learned – who they were looking for: "We're here to speak to Mr. Downey."

"Huh?" She looked at him – no, it was more like she was looking right through him, but then her eyes focused and she said: "Oh yeah, Kirk Downey, right… he's my mother's cook. She's a bit old to do look after the household herself, you know. Please… come in!"

She made room for the two men to step into a huge house that suggested it inhabitants were quite wealthy and led them into a big living-room.

"Take a seat… can I get you something?" Her eyes were fixed on Danny again and Martin began to wonder what this was all about. He decided to ask him later, once they were back in the car, even though he suspected that it would be useless.

Now wasn't the time for asking, anyway, because Claudia was already bringing them both a glass of ice tea and a few minutes later Kirk Downey entered the room.

The interview went exactly the way Martin had expected it; the man knew nothing about his brother.

At the end Martin handed Kirk Downey his card and was surprised when Danny did the same; usually only one of them handed a card out so as not to confuse people. Martin decided to keep his mouth shut about this strange behaviour on Danny's part until they were in the car.

Which they now where, and this time Martin was drivingand it was Danny who was sitting in the passenger seat, staring absentmindedly out of the window.

Martin waited for few minutes to see if Danny would say anything, and concentrated on driving, but nothing happened.

"So?" he finally asked.

"So what?" Danny turned his head slowly and looked at Martin as if he didn't know what his co-worker wanted.

"I suppose you don't want to tell me who she was, and where you know her from?" Martin asked; he couldn't help a grin spreading across face.

Danny took a long time to answer before he finally said: "You're right. I don't."


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Notes:** Sorry it took me so long to update. I will hopefully write the next chapter soon - and maybe find a title that fits...

Enjoy!

XXX

„Hey!"

The voice sounded a million miles away, and it was impossible for Martin's still sleepy mind to work out who it belonged to. He didn't want to move, instead he groaned and ignored it.

"Hey. Martin. Wake up."

The voice was louder this time, and reminded him of the tone his mother would use in the morning when he was a teenager and she wanted him to get up for school. She had always done that, as long as he had lived with his parents, even if Martin told her it was absolutely unnecessary. He had always made sure that none of his friends ever found that out.

"Martin! Hey!"

Well, it wasn't his mother's voice that much was sure. And it sounded a lot more aggressive than his mother had ever been. He tried to pull the pillow over his head, still not ready to give up on sleep and face the world, but the pillow was pulled away from him and he was too slow to stop it.

Martin groaned, but then a gentle kiss was placed on his cheek, and he reluctantly opened one eye.

"Hey. Good morning…" Finally he knew whose voice it was as he looked straight into Sam's eyes; she was looking back at him impatiently.

"Hey…" Martin replied sleepily and tried half-heartedly to grab his pillow back from her, but Sam moved her arm so Martin couldn't reach it without sitting up. She also started to remove his blanket.

"What time is it?" Martin asked distractedly while trying to keep his blanket where it was. He couldn't help yawning, but didn't bother covering his mouth with his hand because he needed them both to help him defend the blanket.

"Thanks", Sam said after he had yawned practically right into her face. "C'mon, you gotta get up or we'll be late for work."

Yawning again Martin let go of the blanket and rolled over to find his cell phone on the night stand. When he finally looked at it he saw that it was after seven am. How could he have slept so late?

He turned his head and his eyes met Sam's and then he remembered. They had got home late last night after the team had found the teenage girl they were looking for safe and sound with her boyfriend, and both of them had still been full of energy, and when they had finally managed to work it off, it had been really late.

Martin's stomach gave a grumble and brought him back to the present. Sam was still sitting on the edge of his bed, holding his pillow and his blanket, and Martin decided that under the circumstances, there was no point of staying in bed.

He got up, gave Sam a short kiss on her forehead, and walked towards the bathroom. Sam watched him, and he could see from her face that she was approving of what she saw. But now Martin knew that there was no chance of them going back to bed. He would be late as it was, and it was obvious, too, that Sam didn't intend being late.

"I'll take a cab home today", she said, confirming Martin's assumption.

Martin felt annoyed but he swallowed the feeling and grinned at Sam, suggesting: "Or you could join me in the shower and even if we are late…"

"Martin. We can't be both late. It will make people suspicious."

"Okay", he mumbled. "Then I'll see you in the office, I guess?" Although he tried hard to keep his tone neutral, he didn't quite manage it. But they had discussed the subject. Over and over again, and Martin didn't feel like having another go. There was no point in keeping their relationship secret, he knew that Jack knew about it and he was sure that Danny knew as well – although Danny hadn't told him directly. But he had been asking questions and kept giving him and Sam suspicious looks.

The thing Martin hated most about keeping it a secret was that it felt as if it was having an impact on the interaction between all the team members. Lately he had felt as if everybody had a secret and it was creating an unpleasant tension that hadn't been there a couple of weeks ago.

Checking the time once more Martin decided that he really needed to hurry. When he entered the bathroom he heard Sam calling good-bye, and then he heard the door being opened and shut again. Martin sighed. For a brief moment he considered being late for work so he could get some exercise; like going for a run. Maybe it would help him release all the anger he had bottled up lately. But Jack and he weren't on the best of terms and Martin didn't want to give his boss a reason to be angry with him.

So he made sure he got ready quickly, and when he finally arrived in the office is was only just after eight am. He was surprised that Sam was already there; she must have been really quick. When he looked over their eyes met and she smiled at him from her desk.

Martin would have smiled back if he hadn't been concentrating on carrying a cup of coffee without spilling it. Going through his morning routine in a rush meant he had forgotten to have breakfast. He had decided that nobody would mind if he made up for that now. There wasn't a new case, and except for Sam, nobody seemed to have noticed Martin's presence anyway; Jack was in his office talking on the phone, Vivian sat at her desk, looking lost in her own world and Danny obviously hadn't arrived yet.

Martin let his eyes rest on Vivian's back for a moment, wondering what was up with her lately. For the last couple of weeks she had seemed preoccupied with something, but she seemed reluctant to tell anybody what it was. She had always been a friendly co-worker, and Martin liked her a lot. The thought that she might be in trouble worried him, but Vivian wasn't somebody whose business you would pry into.

With a sigh Martin sat down at his desk. While sipping his coffee he began looking through a file on their most recent case. He still had to write his report on that, and just the thought made him groan inwardly. It had actually been a good case, their MP had turned up safe and alive, but Martin hated writing reports and his bad mood this morning wasn't making it any better.

Martin was just about to start when a little piece of paper caught his attention. At first he wanted to throw it into the trash, but then he noticed there were a few words written on it in pencil. It didn't take him long to recognise Sam's hand-writing.

'_Meet at mine tonight. Got a little surprise for you!'_

Martin grinned and when he turned around Sam was looking at him and their eyes met. For a moment they both just stared; then the contact was interrupted by a shadow passing by Martin's desk. Danny had arrived, and he obviously wasn't in a good mood, either.

Martin gave Sam one last smile, then he turned to see what was up with Danny.

"Hey, you look worse than I feel", he said, grinning at the other man.

Danny didn't answer. Martin wasn't even sure if he had heard him because there was no reaction whatsoever from his friend. He cleared his throat and tried again to gain Danny's attention. "You're late."

Now Danny turned his head and glared at him. "Oh yeah? Hadn't noticed."

Raising his arms Martin said quickly: "Okay, okay… sorry." He decided to start writing the report but couldn't concentrate, partly because he was curious, partly because Danny was now busily rummaging through the drawers of his desk, making a lot of noise. After a couple of minutes Martin had had enough. With a sigh he asked: "Is it important you make so much noise?"

No reply.

"Hey man, what's up with you?"

Instead of answering Danny let his eyes wander to Martins coffee cup. "Is there some left?"

Martin shrugged. "Don't know, but when I got mine there was enough. You need to go and look yourself."

Another glare, and Danny was off, heading towards their little break room, leaving Martin to stare after him, perplexed.

Now everybody seemed to be going crazy: Jack hadn't left his office yet, Vivian hadn't said a word all morning, and Danny… well, there was something wrong with Danny, too. Martin couldn't remember him ever arriving at the office in such a bad mood, and on top of that, Danny looked as if he had just gotten out of bed and come to the office without bothering to do so much as look in a mirror. Thinking about it, Martin was almost sure that his friend was wearing the same clothes as he had the previous day. And that wasn't like Danny at all.

Groaning to himself, Martin finally managed to get his attention back to the report he was writing. As little as he was looking forward to it, he would somehow have to get through the day. At least he had plans for the evening; he hadn't forgotten about the note from Sam and the surprise she had promised him.


	3. Chapter 3

As the morning progressed the atmosphere grew more and more uncomfortable, as none of the team members seemed willing to speak to each other and Martin was forced to work in silence.

Vivian seemed lost in her own world; Jack hadn't left his office yet, and Danny sat at his desk, brooding silently, his eyes fixed on his computer screen. Martin could see him from the corner of his eyes; he had taken of his suit jacket and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt as he caught up on his paperwork.

Sam threw Martin occasional glances, but she didn't want to raise suspicion and so she wasn't talking to him either. Martin sighed. She was behaving very strangely and he didn't know what to do. They had talked about it a dozen times, but no conversation and especially no arguments had made any difference so far.

Reminding himself that he had work to do, Martin turned his attention back to yet another report he had to write.

At one p.m. precisely Danny closed the file that was lying beside his keyboard, shut down his computer and stood up. He rolled down his sleeves and put his suit jacket on, ready to leave. As he walked past Martin's desk, he noticed Martin look at him and obviously felt as if he should explain.

"I'm going to lunch", he said with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

The word lunch made Martin's stomach grumble and quickly, before Danny could leave, he asked: "Mind if I join you?"

Danny stopped and turned around to look at Martin. He smiled sarcastically: "I you want to."

Martin didn't answer, just shut down his computer and quickly got up to follow Danny, who seemed to have no intention of waiting for him.

Twenty minutes later they were sitting in the coffee shop across the street as Martin watched Danny attack his lunch hungrily. No words were exchanged as they ate, but Martin was confused because he had never seen Danny wolf his food down like that.

When he had finished Danny leaned back and for the first time that day he looked almost relaxed. He almost smiled at Martin when he finally looked up and met his friend's eyes. "Man that was good. Didn't realise how hungry I was."

Martin smiled back. "Never underestimate what a good meal can do to lighten your mood."

For a moment there was no reaction from Danny, but then he laughed. "Yeah, that sounds like you."

Martin felt relieved. Maybe, with Danny's mood getting better, the afternoon wouldn't be as bad as the morning. And maybe now his friend was ready to talk about what had caused the bad mood he'd been in all morning.

"What's been going on?"

"Huh?"

"This morning – what's been going on with you?"

Danny's expression changed and got darker again, and Martin started to regret having asked.

"None of your business", Danny finally said, and Martin had to swallow hard to keep himself from snapping at him.

"I thought we were friends", he finally managed to say, in a neutral tone, although he felt disappointed and offended by Danny's words.

Danny remained silent for a long while and Martin watched him, looking for signs of uneasiness or guilt for his harsh words – but there were none. Finally Danny leaned forward, placing his elbows on the table and looked Martin straight in the eyes.

"Look", he said, his voice sounding softer now. "It's not that I don't trust you, or anything. I just don't want to talk about it. Not now at least, okay?" He paused and Martin nodded. "Besides, it's not like you tell me about what's going on with you, either", Danny added.

"What do you mean?" Martin asked, his stomach churning.

Danny stared at him with a blank expression. "I think you know exactly what I mean. Now let's get going, we have to be back at work soon." He stood up and pulled on his coat. Still thinking about what he could have meant by his words and how much he really knew, Martin followed him.

………………

If Martin had thought the afternoon was going to be better than the morning he quickly came to realise that he had been mistaken. Nothing had changed except that Danny was a little more talkative, occasionally turning around at his desk to complain about being bored to anybody who was willing to listen.

Time passed by slowly and Martin began to wonder if the day was ever going to end. Finally he made his mind up to leave early – he had worked enough overtime to be able to leave early as long as his work was done.

Around half past three Martin was about to finish his last report, when at the next desk Danny's cell phone started to ring. Danny picked it up from beside his computer screen, took one look at the display and got up to walk away before he answered the phone making sure nobody was listening.

Martin watched him leave, shook his head and finished his last sentence. He read the text he had written again, twice, before he finally printed it out and shut the computer down for the day.

He found some paper and reached for a pencil to write a note. 'Leaving for today. Be at yours at around eight." He stood up and gathered his things together. On the way out he walked past Sam and dropped the note onto her desk, after making sure that nobody saw what he was doing.

He looked back once and caught Sam smiling at him before he walked down the corridor towards the elevator.

Without really wanting to he took a quick look around, subconsciously looking for Danny, but he was no where to be found. Martin sighed and got into the elevator.

When he arrived home he sat down on his couch, suddenly feeling tired. Deciding that the there was enough time for a nap before he went to Sam's he lay down and quickly fell asleep.

……………

Sam opened the door wearing a beautiful dress that had Martin gasping with surprise when he saw her. It was one of those breath taking dresses that covered just enough to start a man's fantasies.

Sam smiled at the surprise on his face. "I take it you like it?"

Now that he had gotten over his surprise Martin grinned. "I most certainly do. But tell me, do we have something to celebrate? Is there anything I've forgotton?"

Sam shook her head as she reached for his hands and guided him into her living-room. Martin was even more surprised when he saw that she had opened a bottle of wine that now sat on the coffee table, waiting for them. Sam wasn't a big drinker, especially not during the week when they had to work the next day.

Her smile widened when she saw that he approved of what he saw.

"Seriously Sam, what's up? Do you have something to confess or something?"

"No, it's nothing like that. I just thought that we've had a rough time together lately – too many arguments in my opinion. So we really needed a nice evening for a change. I thought you'd like it."

"I do", Martin hurried to say. "I love the idea."

Sam beamed and leaned in to kiss him. When the kiss ended she motioned towards the sofa and said: "Okay, then… take a seat. Would you like a glass of wine?"

Martin couldn't help grinning. "Sure."

Sam saw his amused face and stopped, looking at him sceptically. "What is it?"

"Nothing", Martin said and laughed.

"Martin."

"Okay, okay… it's just that… this seems so unlike you, Sam. I mean… I just have never known this side of you."

"Well, there are few more sides to me that you don't know yet", Sam answered, as she poured them both a glass of wine.

"Really?" Martin said. "Can't wait to get to know them…"


End file.
